Corvere Times Exclusive: Nicholas Sayre
by Trygvasson
Summary: Three days after the binding of Orannis, Nicholas Sayre gives an exclusive interview to the Corvere Times newspaper, explaining and politicizing the magical events for an Ancelstierran audience. Oneshot.


**Unnecessary disclaimer: rights to the wonderful author Garth Nix, creator of the Old Kingdom, the Abhorsens, Nicholas Sayre, and some of the most fascinating magical zombies I have ever encountered.**

It was three days after the chaos of the Eight's battle with and renewed binding of Orannis. Life and the all too real ongoing coup attempt,in magicless Ancelstierre went on. Even Prince Sameth left Ancelstierre and his ill but soon-to-be-recovering friend Nick to attend to his royal duties in the Old Kingdom, putting the Destroyer back to an uneasy rest in a prison of _eight_ wards, of his own design. Nicholas Sayre, onetime avatar and the Destroyer, current invalid, and scion of a prominent political family, would dearly have loved to sleep for a week and recuperate somewhere warm and sunny, possibly on a beach. But as the sole representative of the family _not_ currently bunkered down inside government buildings in Corvere (instead bunkered down in a heavily guarded private ward of a hospital in Bain), he did have a duty to help his elders. So, with the branches of the government that normally kept the unusual happenings near the Perimeter quiet currently in the same state of disarray as their compatriots in Corvere, Nicholas did the single most damaging thing he could in his delicate condition: reveal his carefully edited ordeal to the public, making clear Corolini's own role in the tragedies of the "remote north of the country." There was a bevy of interesting headlines in the _Corvere Times_ today...

* * *

"OUR COUNTRY PROTESTORS FRUSTRATED AS CHIEF MINISTER'S BARRICADE HOLDS AT CAPITOL

Protests and riots continue in the streets surrounding the central government offices and army headquarters, however their advance has stagnated in the face of army barricades and tear gas... _Continues A2"_

"DEADLY FIRES ENGULF DOZENS OF FARMS IN THE REMOTE NORTH

After multiple disturbances near the Northern Perimeter Wall on Wednesday and Thursday, wildfires have spread over two counties... _Continues A4"_

"COROLINI NOW RETREATING AS HIS FOLLOWERS ENGAGE WITH REINFORCEMENTS FROM THE SOUTHERN GARRISON

One thousand soldiers loyal to the Chief Minister arrived in the city yesterday determined to beat back fighters who many loyalists are now describing as 'Our Country Turncoats.' It is unclear if or how the Chief Minister was actually able to wire orders to summon them. A Corolini spokesman indignantly commented that 'These men are deserters leaving their posts! Because of them, our blockade against the tide of refugees will not hold, and... _Continues A2'"_

"LONG LIVE THE KING: Visiting Monarchs Survived Assassination Attempt

King Touchstone and Queen Sabriel of the 'Old Kingdom' beyond the Northern Perimeter Wall have both survived the assassination attempt last week in Corvere, where both were presumed dead after their motorcade was attacked and a bomb struck their car. Witnesses reveal the monarchs were present near the Northern Perimeter Wall on Thursday. Current whereabouts are unknown, however the two are believed to have returned to their own country... _Continues A3"_

"EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH NICHOLAS SAYRE: Chief Minister's Nephew Kidnapped and Held Captive for Two Months, Now Free to Tell All

Readers of this paper will recall the months of political battles leading up to the fighting in our own streets, the visceral division of our own Government. They may recall as well a little over a week ago when a bomb disturbed the peace of an entire Corvere neighborhood in the early hours of a misty morning, a bomb which completely destroyed the motorcade of visiting monarchs from the lands beyond the Northern Perimeter Wall. (Both king and queen survived- see A3 for details). They were surprised to learn of the mysterious and deadly explosion and fires at Forwin Mill near the Wall three days ago. Readers will be _shocked_ , however, to know the story of Nicholas Sayre, nephew to Chief Minister Sayre, who was also present at Forwin Mill.

I visited young Master Sayre in his hospital room in Bain, at his personal invitation. Following the explosion, Master Sayre was taken to Bain by the Army. When I arrived, the hospital itself was heavily guarded both by Sayre family security personnel and by members of the Army, from the Perimeter garrison, I was told. I assumed Nicholas Sayre had suffered some burns, as he indicated in his unexpected message that he was near Forwin Mill when an explosion ripped through the area, leveling a good square mile and setting fires for two. I was not prepared for what I saw. I entered the private room to see Sayre sitting in a chair, a living skeleton barely strong enough to keep himself upright, but proudly determined to put on a good face for a guest. What little of his chest I could see around his dressing gown was nearly black with deep bruising. Dark bruises also lapped a bandage on his left hand. His eyes were sunken, his cheeks hollow and pale with prolonged illness, his limbs bare bones with sleeves and trouser legs flapping around them. His hand trembled as he accepted mine.

Sayre, 18, is a recent graduate of Sommersby Boys' School where he excelled in sciences, maths, and cricket, and he was due to matriculate at Corvere University in the coming fall quarter. 'I think University may have to wait, unless my professors are keen on visiting a sickbed,' Sayre says with a wry grin when I ask. 'This all started months ago, when I was planning to visit my friend Sam- Prince Sameth- across the Wall.'

Prince Sameth is the son of King Touchstone and Queen Sabriel, who have ruled in the 'Old Kingdom,' as some call it, for the past twenty years. Prior to that, according to one source I met in Bain, the area was actually in a state of total anarchy for two centuries following the assassination of its then ruler by another member of the royal family, although King Touchstone is apparently a descendent of the true line. Little is known about the current royal family or indeed their kingdom except to personal associates, like Master Sayre I hoped, as travel across the Northern Perimeter Wall has largely been confined to the royals and their guard and to patrols by our own Army. Records available to the Ancelstierran public are woefully outdated, and full of superstitions and rumors. Unfortunately, young Master Sayre will not be filling in our knowledge gaps any time soon:

'I never managed to meet up with Sam. I was waylaid on our side of the border by a man calling himself Hedge who I later learned was an Army deserter, and an associate of Mr. Corolini. He took me across the Wall and into a dangerous area in the West of the country, where Sam couldn't easily get to me. I was a prisoner for a couple months, starved and drugged in some way a lot of the time, so I wasn't wholly aware of what was going on at the time.' Sayre did indeed disappear several months ago, and inquiries reveal the Chief Minister had tangled with Old Kingdom emissaries in the meantime trying to find him. But the question remained, why was Nicholas Sayre taken? How was this kept secret? And how did he end up at Forwin Mill?

The answer begins and ends with the events at Forwin Mill itself. The explosion, Sayre reveals, was in fact caused by a cargo brought over from the Old Kingdom. It was mined in the same area Sayre was held captive, using slave labor of captured Southerlings Mister Corolini's Our Country party had managed to send across the Wall. The captives were all kept in terrible conditions and soon took ill and even died in the presence of the ore they produced. The unstable substance, dangerous and unusable in its natural state, had great potential to create a weapon of devastating power, as evidenced by the very real explosion three days ago. However, harnessing the power required resources and technology simply not available in the Old Kingdom, as it is severely underdeveloped following its long period of anarchy. Thus, a plot was hatched between two ambitious men spanning both countries, a plot heedless of cruelty and loss of life, a plot one could easily see extending far beyond our own borders.

Why kidnap and coerce a young, innocent Nicholas Sayre, then, as part of the plot?

'I think they took me because of my name. The name "Sayre" gets things done. That was the only reason I was able to get a border pass to visit Sam in the first place. Once Hedge had me under his control, I was forced to write letters to get that facility built [at Forwin Mill], and to get the permits for crossing the Wall. Later, when my family lost contact with me, even the official permit requests and so on, the uncertainty prevented Uncle Edward from allying with Sam's parents, the king and queen, and so prevented them from interfering with the plan.'

Even import permits with a Sayre's name were not enough for this 'Hedge' to get his cargo across the wall. Fighting broke out on the western end of the wall a full day prior to the events at Forwin Mill. A spokesman for the Army was unwilling to talk to me, but a local source remembered first the bells tolling an emergency. 'Bells toll like that and wind from the North, you know something's coming from across the Wall. You go inside and light the lamps, you don't look out 'til all's quiet again and the sun is shining.' Another, perhaps less superstitious source did look out to see the red signal flares above the Western Lighthouse, an even more dire omen. A review of death notices revealed the entire complement of Navy personnel on duty at the lighthouse that particularly evening were killed. I asked Master Sayre about that night but was disappointed. 'I remember crossing the Wall itself. On a stretcher. The Wall was on fire. But I was too sick to remember much else. Perhaps Hedge had originally planned to have me try to talk our way across, but I doubt it. We weren't at the Official Crossing Point, and I was in no condition to put on a convincing display of normality. I was kept alive in case I would be useful later, perhaps. Hedge always planned to force his way across the Wall.' And to force his way onto a couple of boats to bring his cargo to Forwin Mill.

So what happened at the mill? Tim, a senior classmate of Master Sayre who wishes to be identified by his first name only, was the engineer in charge of constructing the late facility. He was the sole survivor of the construction team and completely unwilling to talk with me. 'The basic design for the facility belonged to one of Hedge's associates,' Sayre says, 'but he made me work out the details and send them on to some of my university contacts, since he wasn't much of a scientist. Tim never really knew what he was building, because honestly, the whole concept didn't make a lot of sense. That stuff certainly is dangerous, and I don't think there _is_ a safe, reliable way to use it. I am a firm advocate for the scientific endeavor in general, but for the purposes of peace and progress to bring greater prosperity. Whatever this rare substance was, it was a sort which I am now certain is completely antithetical to life and health. It isn't a power source or a key to higher understanding. Any research into its nature or development would be pointless at best and most likely amoral, as there is no discernable use besides indiscriminate and uncontrollable mass slaughter. Hedge and his lot had a lot of ideas about what they thought they had discovered and a lot of ideas about what they wanted to do with it, but absolutely no real science to back it up. That obviously didn't stop them, as they were perfectly willing to kidnap me, prey on and enslave the Southerlings, attempt to assassinate ruling monarchs, fight their way across the Wall, and finally execute the whole construction team so they couldn't "give away any secrets." They thought they were going to be invincible. All they did with that fancy equipment was set off a spark that ignited a load of dynamite, if you'll forgive the metaphor.'

And what a load of dynamite it was. I visited Forwin Mill after my interview with Sayre, or rather, I tried to. There is currently a wildfire burning throughout much of the county. The thousands of refugees that had been housed in the area were all evacuated east, close to the Official Crossing Point. One unconfirmed rumor stated this particular group would indeed be moving across the Wall shortly, with the blessings and protection of King Touchstone's royal writ. In viewing the area through a telescope from the observatory sixteen miles away in Finney, a one-mile radius is blasted down to the dirt, with great craters from debris. Looking farther beyond the main fire, smoke is also still visible from the breach in the western end of the Wall. Absolutely no trace remains of the enormous facility Sayre describes, though local sources confirm its existence and scale.

'I would never have escaped without help. Sam had actually been tracking us all the way back in the Old Kingdom, though he was unable to get to me there because of Hedge and his insurgents. And because I was so sick already. When we got to the mill, though, Hedge was distracted with the cargo, and I was able to slip away. I was planning on shutting down the plant before anything happened. I even made it to the building with the master switches. But it was locked, and in my condition, I couldn't get in. That's where one of the Old Kingdom operatives found me, though, and took me back up and over the hill in time to avoid the main blast. Sam was there, and his whole family, and a detail from the Perimeter Garrison. Sam and his folks had figured out what was going on, and they had an expert who knew how to at least contain that stuff, or its byproducts, or whatever. They were trying to save as many people as possible, since the explosive came from their country. I guess they're working on taking the treated remnants back where it can be kept away from populated areas now.'

At this point in the interview, Sayre reached one tremulous hand up to brush the hair from his eyes, and I noticed an unusual mark on his forehead. I asked about it, and he grinned ruefully. 'It's a mark from the Old Kingdom religion. Sam's people didn't think I was going to make it, once they found me. One of the family's more superstitious retainers performed what I gather was some kind of "last rites" in their quaint old religion. It won't come off. But I'd say it's a worthy price to pay for my rescue. It'll be a great conversation piece with the ladies when I get back to Corvere, eventually.' I told him I didn't think he would be left out of the conversation at debutante parties any time soon. He agreed.

At this point in our interview, we had been talking for maybe a couple of hours, but I could see how much it was taxing the young gentleman. He was supporting his posture with his armrests and breathing heavily between answers. A nurse arrived with a dose of medicine, I suspect morphine by the grateful but strangely haunted look in the young man's eye. But I had one final question- why was Nicholas Sayre so willing to talk about his harrowing experience, mere days after escaping a fiery disaster unprecedented in our imagination, when every other potential source asked about the subject stayed mum?

'Because Corolini is still free. This is a man who has conspired with a confessed deserter to create an unpredictable experimental weapon, endangering the peace and the public, ruthlessly killing hundreds or even thousands of people in the process. This is a man whose blind ambition has brought our own country to the brink of a conflict like that currently tearing apart the southern continent and driving hundreds of thousands of refugees to our shores. This is a man who has personally injured me and conspired against my entire family. He does not deserve the esteem of even a single citizen.'

What about that Hedge? I ask as I prepare to take my leave. Nicholas Sayre's voice is cold as the country he so recently escaped as he replies, 'That man died three days ago in a fire of his own making. _He_ is no longer my concern.' Although silent, I still sense the comment, _I hope Corolini is next_. A deserved anger, in a clear victim of torture.

 _For a complete profile on Nicholas Sayre, turn to A3._

* * *

 **Author's Note: reread my Garth Nix books recently, and this is the result. Probably wouldn't actually be allowed to happen quite this way, since the Old Kingdom wouldn't want anyone to even _think_ to come snooping for more weapons-grade material, but still... I would be very surprised if Nick's family didn't use his condition as a political smear against Corolini. I would not be unsurprised if the world of Ancelstierre eventually used what happened at Forwin Mill as an inspiration for nuclear science, somewhere down the line. Enjoy.**


End file.
